More cash from feds to cleanup Lake Simcoe

LAKE SIMCOE CLEANUP FUNDS ANNOUNCED

York-Simcoe MP Peter Van Loan announced, on behalf of Environment Minister Peter Kent, that funding is available for clean-up projects through the Lake Simcoe/South-eastern Georgian Bay Clean-Up Fund.
The five-year $29-million fund aims to restore the ecological health of Lake Simcoe and South-eastern Georgian Bay and improve water quality for the residents and wildlife of the region.
“Lake Simcoe and South-eastern Georgian Bay are important natural resources, vital sources of drinking water and regional economic drivers. Our government is proud to contribute to projects that will help ensure the long-term sustainability of Canada’s lakes and waterways,” said Mr. Van Loan in Jackson’s Point Monday morning at the De La Salle chapel, along the lake’s deep-water shores.
The fund will support community projects that are focused on priorities such as reducing phosphorous inputs from urban and rural sources, restoring fish and aquatic wildlife habitat and populations and addressing near-shore toxic and nuisance algae growth.
This “important” investment to clean up Lake Simcoe and South-eastern Georgian Bay is part of the government’s Action Plan for Clean Water, which includes projects such as the clean-up of contaminated sediment in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and action on pollution in Lake Winnipeg. It builds on the success of the 2007-2012 $30-million Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund.
For additional information on the Lake Simcoe/South-eastern Georgian Bay Clean-Up Fund, please visit the environment ministry website at http://www.ec.gc.ca/doc/eau-water/simcoe_e.html.